President pushes health care reform

President Barack Obama is continuing his call for better health care today.

During a town hall meeting in Virginia, President Obama said he knows how expensive to overhaul the health care system, but he said it would cost the United States more to keep it as it is.

Although he recognized that some people think he is moving too fast with the push to reform the current system, he said it’s “not too soon” to work on a solution to its current problems. He also noted that health care reform is something that people have been talking about and asking for since Teddy Roosevelt was in office.

“This is a problem that we can’t wait to fix. It’s not something that we’re going to keep putting off indefinitely,” he said. “We are going to pass healthcare reform—not 10 years from now, not five years from now. We are going to pass it this year…we are going to get it done.”

One person in the crowd addressed the fact that there have been concerns from the right that President Obama is trying to socialize medicine, but he said that’s wrong.

“If you have healthcare that you get through your employer, I want you to keep it,” he assured. “I actually think reforming the system is the most likely way for you to keep your health care.”

He added that part of his plans to retool health care in America would be to offer up more information to doctors and other service providers so that they can provide better, more knowledgeable care to patients.

“We don’t want to get between you and your doctor. …Don’t let people scare you out of a system that we know is not working,” the president said before closing out the meeting.